A portrait of J Jayalalithaa took prime spot inside the Tamil Nadu assembly today amid strong objections by the opposition DMK and the Congress, which boycotted the event. Jayalalithaa's portrait has been put up in the assembly gallery and stands apart from the 10 other images inside the assembly, of chief ministers and Tamil Nadu icons.

More than 3,000 fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who had put out to sea in 460 mechanised boats, were today chased away by the Sri Lankan Navy when they were allegedly fishing near Katchatheevu islet, Fisheries Department officials here said.

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan, who is in the US, spoke on people's right to express, his dream of creating a "good Tamil Nadu" and the prospect of allying with his contemporary Rajinikanth at the Harvard University.

Around 75 men, many with a record of crimes like murder and robbery, gathered near Chennai on Tuesday for an unusual birthday party where a machete was used for cake-cutting by the "birthday boy", a feared gangster. Unfortunately for them, a large group that crashed the party around midnight turned out to be that of policemen in disguise.

Kamal Haasan has said that Tamil cinema's other superstar Rajinikanth and he will have to contemplate whether it is necessary for them to join hands and face elections. In a magazine column today he said he agrees with Rajinikanth that only time will tell whether the two actors will join hands as politicians.

Animal rights body PETA today urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami to ban Jallikattu, claiming that at least 23 people have died since the state allowed the bull-taming sport in January last year.

While the Modi government has recently announced an ambitious Rs 5 lakh medical insurance cover for 10 crore poor families in Budget 2018, the Centre can probably take a few lessons from the Tamil Nadu model which launched its own health insurance programme in 2009.

A bull tamer was killed at a Jallikattu event at Manaparai in Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirappalli district, around 400 km from Chennai on Sunday, becoming the sixth victim of the dangerous sport that is making a comeback after a ban. The victim was identified as 25-year-old P Manikandan, a local mason.